Mobile App Marketing Tip of the Week: Talk To Friends & Family

From the mundane “Get Your Family to Download Your App” to the off the wall “Create Beer Coasters” join us on a 52-week journey of some of the top ways to promote and market your mobile application.

Week 2

Mobile Marketing Tips: Talk to Friends and Family

Well, we said we’d start out with the mundane, so here it is. Depending on the size of your family, and how popular you are, you can achieve a good start to having your app downloaded just by suckering, I mean, having your friends and family try out your app.

Having your friends and family download your app is a great way to receive quick feedback on your app. Are there bugs you may have missed during development? Is there a usability issue with the app? Additionally, having a group of people that know you rate and review the app (hopefully positively) can help build credibility of your app in the app store.

While there is no formula specifically written out by Apple or Android, it’s assumed that there are a few items that will help your app show up near the top of search results or, gasp, receive a coveted spot atop a list of top apps or be picked as a “favorite” app by Apple and Google.

App Name

Name & Keywords

Total Number of Downloads

Number of Recent Downloads

Reviews and Ratings (Positive is good, Negative is bad)

We’ll discuss more in-depth social media, app store optimization and how you can reach out to not-so-close friends and family over the course of the year. But suffice it to say, simply reaching out to your friends and family with a basic email can help build up your app’s reach.

Hey Kelly,

I’ve been working night and day on creating a mobile app for the past five months and it’s finally live in the store. I’d love if you could take a look at it and let me know your thoughts. The app helps you find the closest bowling alley and even lets you know how many lanes are available and what it would cost to bowl 2 rounds!

Here’s a link to the iPhone version and one for the Android Version.

I hope everything’s going great and hope to catch up soon. Can’t wait to hear how you like the app!

Jon Stroz

Jon Stroz is a marketing guru, mostly in online marketing strategies and brand management. After graduating from Towson University with a degree in Advertising and Public Relations, he quickly became an integral part of a technology firm in Baltimore, MD. Since then Jon has honed his marketing skills and focused on online marketing strategies where he is also a Google Adwords Certified Individual.